1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grading system for appraising trading cards via a network such as the Internet, a server computer for managing the grading system, a card case for protecting an appraised card, and a card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, not only card collectors in Japan but also card collectors in other countries throughout the world have exchanged, sold, and purchased trading cards among themselves.
A trading card (hereinafter simply referred to as a xe2x80x9ccardxe2x80x9d) is a card on which a photograph of a professional athlete or a character of an animated program is printed. In particular, a rare card is traded at a high price.
With a trend toward global trading of cards, the distance between parties who trade or exchange a card has increased, making direct checking of the conditions of the card difficult.
Moreover, due to recent progress of, for example, the Internet technique, cards are sometimes sold at an auction. However, buyers encounter difficulty in grasping the conditions of a card.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a grading system which enables card collectors to trade and exchange cards without anxiety.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a server computer, a card case, and a card that can be used in the grading system.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grading system, comprising a server computer connected to a network; and a client computer connected to the network and provided on the side of an owner of a card, wherein the server computer includes storage means for storing an appraisal result of the card and owner information of the card input from the client computer, and when the ownership of the card is changed, the storage means updates and stores the owner information of the card.
In the grading system of the first aspect, the server computer holds an appraisal result of a card and owner information input from the client computer owned by the owner of the card; and when the ownership of the card is changed, the owner information is updated.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a grading system, comprising a server computer connected to a network; a first client computer connected to the network and provided on the side of an owner of a card; and a second client computer connected to the network and provided on the side of a potential buyer of the card, wherein the server computer includes storage means for storing an appraisal result of the card and owner information of the card input from the first client computer, and information provision means for providing the second client computer with the appraisal result and the owner information of the card stored in the storage means.
In the grading system of the second aspect, the server computer holds an appraisal result of a card and owner information input from the first client computer owned by the owner of the card; and the appraisal result and the owner information of the card are provided to the second client computer owned by the potential buyer of the card.
The potential buyer can purchase the card without anxiety, because he or she can know the appraisal result and the owner information of the card.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server computer, comprising storage means for storing an appraisal result of a card and owner information of the card, wherein when the ownership of the card is changed, the storage means updates and stores the owner information of the card.
The server computer of the third aspect is characterized in that the server computer holds an appraisal result of a card and owner information of the card; and when the ownership of the card is changed, the server computer updates the owner information.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card case comprising a body case having a card accommodation space for accommodating a card, and an IC chip accommodation space for accommodating an IC chip; and a lid covering the body case.
The card case of the fourth aspect protects a card and an IC chip in which are stored an appraisal result and owner information of the card.
That is, the appraisal result of the card and the history of ownership of the card can be found through an operation of reading data stored in the IC chip.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card case comprising a body case having a card accommodation space for accommodating a card, and an IC chip accommodation space for accommodating an IC chip; a lid provided on the body case so as to cover the body case; and a cover provided on the lid so as to cover the lid.
The card case of the fifth aspect is characterized by provision of a cover for protecting a signing portion provided on the lid of the card case.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card comprising an IC chip for storing appraisal information of the card.
The card of the sixth aspect includes an IC chip, and appraisal information of the card and other data are stored in the IC chip. Therefore, the appraisal information of the card can be obtained through an operation of reading the IC chip.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card comprising an IC chip for storing owner information of the card.
The card of the seventh aspect includes an IC chip, and owner information of the card and other data are stored in the IC chip. The owner information includes information regarding a history of ownership.